Design for a short first visit
A recruiter might give your link only a few minutes before deciding whether to continue. Put the role, skill focus, and strongest project on the landing page.
Use one clean repository instead of many abandoned exercises. Explain the product, mission, evidence, and result before listing tools.
Make the project runnable without private accounts. If execution is expensive, provide a safe sample result and exact setup instructions.
Show decisions, not document volume
Include a concise risk model, exploratory charter, defect report, API investigation, SQL query, and small automation suite when they support the same scenario.
For each artifact, explain the question it answered. A screenshot without context cannot show whether you noticed the important behavior.
Remove generic test-case collections that repeat the interface. Favor evidence that reveals prioritization, technical depth, and uncertainty.
Make the repository trustworthy
Write a clear README with prerequisites, setup, commands, expected output, and limitations. Pin dependency versions and exclude secrets.
Use small commits with meaningful messages. A reviewer can see how you corrected a design or improved a failing check over time.
Add a simple CI workflow that installs dependencies and runs stable checks. Explain why the workflow exists and what a green result does not prove.
Review it as a hiring artifact
Open the portfolio in a private browser window and follow every link. Run the documented setup on a clean copy when possible.
Ask one QA peer and one non-QA reader to review it. The peer can challenge technical claims, while the other reader exposes unclear explanations.
Do not include employer code, production data, credentials, or interview assignments that you cannot publish. Original small work is safer and more credible.